Chapter 5 - Celeste’s DebtCeleste finally explained the disposable messages.
Two years earlier, she had used money from the Whitmore Arts Foundation to cover losses in a private investment fund. She intended to restore it before the annual audit.
The investment failed.
Adrian discovered the transfer while restructuring foundation accounts. Instead of reporting her, he offered protection.
At first, he asked for introductions to donors and access to Richard’s private schedule. Later, he demanded confidential board documents.
When the acquisition appeared, Adrian told her the succession clause would protect them both.
Celeste believed Richard needed only to become ill long enough for the agreement to close.
“What did you think was in the vial?” a detective asked.
“Something that would make him collapse.”
“And afterward?”
“He would recover.”
“Who told you that?”
“Adrian.”
The answer did not make her innocent.
She had poured an unknown substance into her husband’s drink because believing a comforting explanation was easier than refusing.
Richard listened from behind interview-room glass.
Celeste had betrayed him, but Adrian had chosen her because he knew exactly which secret she feared losing.
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The conspiracy had not begun with hatred.
It began when one crime became leverage for the next.
